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BACCALAUREATE 

Addressed to the Senior Class, 



ON THE DAY OF 



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BY A. TVYLIE, D. D. 



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BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA. 



PRINTED BY M. L. DEAL, 






1843, 



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BACCALAUREATE 



ADDRESSED TO THE SENIOR CLASS, 



ON THE DAY OP 



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BY A. WYLIE, D. D. 



PRESIDENT OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY, 



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BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA. 

PRINTED BY M. L. DEAL. 
1843. 



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Young Gentlemen: 

When a son leaves the family circle in the midst of which he 
has been brought up to the years of manhood, and goes out into 
the world to act for himself, it is natural that his parents,, full of 
anxiety for his future welfare, should follow him to the gate with 
their blessings and prayers; and having given him such advice as 
may in some measure supply his lack of experience, commit him? 
in a parting Adieu, to the care of that Good Providence which on- 
ly can conduct him in safety through the perils and uncertainties of 
his future course. 

Such, in some respects, is the situationia, which you are now 
placed; and such the office which this Institution, whose children 
you are, performs to you to-day. To-day you are under her tuition 
and authority;, to-morrow you will be so. no longer. 

What a solemn moment is this! Let me improve it, by deliver- 
ing to you some words of counsel which it may be useful for you to 
remember. But what shall I say? What can 1 say that has not been 
already said? On former occasions, during your course ef studies, 
ii has fallen in my way to. treat, imperfectly it is true, but in great 
sincerity and freedom, of almost every subject of interest to you as 
rational and accountable creatures, as indiyidais, or as members of 
the great family of mankind. I can therefore, only select, from the 
whole mass of subjects which have engaged your attention, some 
one of importance enough to make it a fit theme of remark on the 
present occasion. The occasion seems to requre that it be prac° 
tical. I have chosen such a subject. It is Veracity. 

Veracity is that, in the moral-character of man, which disposes 
him to speak. truth. 

But as truth is a w^^rd of more meanings than one, and veraci- 
ty respects one only of these, it becomes necessary to separate and 
distinguish that one from the rest; so that we may fix our attention 
upon itj and not wander in our reniarks. 

When a man has objects in his presence, views them, and thus 
gets ideas of them; between the objects and himself there is but one 
door, or, passage, through which the ideas have to pass to his mind: 
that is the door of his apprehension. So let us call it: and when 
hereafter we speak of objects as related to ideas we will call them 
Archetypes. 

Now, in the case of ideas passing through this door, it may happen 



that there is a conformity between the ideas and their archetypes. 
This conformity is truth. For distinction let us call ii physical 
truth. Error is its opposite. 

Again: One may observe or apprehend things, and from his ap- 
prehensions he may draw inferences; and if not a man of sense he 
will not only be apt to draw wrong inferences from his apprehen- 
sions, but mix thern up in a confused jumble with his apprehensions: 
and in that case his ideas may be in conformity with their arche- 
types, but his inferences may not be in conformity with his ideas. 
This conformity is also called truth. Let us for distinction call it 
logical truth. Falsehood is its opposite. An example will illustrate 
these distinctions. The sons of the Patriarch Jacob brought to 
him the coat of his beloved Joseph, which they had, in order to de- 
ceive him, dipped in the blood of a kid. When he saw it he knew it 
to be his son's garment, and exclaimed "Joseph is torn to pieces by 
wild beasts." Here was a physical truth, a logical truth and a lo- 
gical falsehood. The coat he saw was torn and bloody: here there 
was a conformity between the idea and its archetype. It was physi- 
cally true: no error, no illusion of the fancy. Again; he compares his 
present perceptions of the coat with his ideas of it in the memory; 
and infers that it is Joseph's: here there was a conformity between 
the perceptions and the memory. It was logically true; the coat 
was Joseph's. No falsehood as to that. But he infers from this 
truth what was logically not true. It was a falshood that he ut- 
tered. Joseph was living and well — well in body — though, we 
may well suppose, sorely distressed in mind, having been sold for a 
slave to the Ishmaelites by his hard-hearted brethren. 

, These, let me observe by the way, are no idle distinctions. Great 
injustice is often done by allowing witnesses to mix and blend 
wrong inferences with facts in their testimony: a thing which sim- 
ple people are very apt to do; and wicked people always do; and 
even good and wise people may sometimes do; — that is, when biassed 
by prejudice, or passion, or interest. But as this, in the language 
of Lord Bacon who was himself an infamous example of it, is one 
of the "Idola Tribus," and a wickedness to which human nature, 
in all, is prone, it may be supposed that the good and wise will be 
specially on their guard against it. 

When objects are not present to a man, he can know nothinor of 
them but through testimony delivered to him by another, to w''om 
they have been present. Besides the door already mentioned, 
through which ideas have passed into this man's mind, whom we 
shall call the Witness, there are yet two other doors, through 
which they have to pass, in order to enter the mind of the second 



5 

person, whom we may call the Judge. The first Is the door of ut- 
terance. By this the ideas of tlie witness get out into words, ut- 
tered by the mouth, or written by the pen; or clothe themselves in 
natural signs, in the looks, tones, gestures, or in such conventional 
signs as men may agree to use in their intercourse. 

It is very curious and amusing as well as useful to observe how 
ideas come out through this door. The idea rarely gets out in the 
naked simplicity, and exact dimensions, and proper color, and shape 
of it. It comes out dressed; sometimes in full costume adjusted ac- 
cording to the nicest rules of the rhetorical toilet — sometimes flash- 
ing and flouncing in all the superfluous finery of upstart nobility at 
a coronation, — sometimes tawdry and without any of the "callidis- 
sima simplicitatis imitatio" which shews the union of taste and gen- 
ius — ^sometimes primp and precise as the dandy, — sometimes sly and 
roguish in appearance to provoke laughter: — and, what is more cu- 
rious still, sometimes an idea will be so brought out that a part only 
and that a very small part is seen, — and on the other hand it is 
sometimes so shown as lo distend itself, or to multiply itself like 
the image reflected from a multangular mirror. 

Such is the effect of figures of speech. — What I desire you here 
to notice however is, not that/orm which an idea takes when it 
puts on its habiliments of dress before it comes out at the door of 
utterance; but the shape into which it must necessarily be com- 
pressed to get out at the door at all. Language is imperfect; so that 
those who verv well understand the force ofv^'ords do not sav ai- 
ways the very thing that is in their minds and \vhich they mtend 
to say, but it, and something else; or, it, but not all of it; or, not 
it, but something like it or connected with it. Now, such bemg 
the imperfection of language, in order to know what a writer or 
speaker really means by any particular word, or sentence, or para- 
graph, we must look at what precedes and what follows, and then 
at the general drift of the whole, and the occasion, and the speak- 
er, and the audience. And, after all, we may not be absolutely 
certain, especially if the writing be ancient, what was the mean- 
ing of the author. 

It was, I suppose, on this account that the Roman church shut 
up the Bible from the unlearned. This was wrong. Among us 
Protestants, every one who has impudence and a voluble tongue 
undertakes to interpret the Holy Oracles. This also is wrong. 

When there is not a conformity between what one intends to 
say and the words that he utters — truth, in a certain sense, is vio- 
lated. This we may call rhetorical truth. Its opposite is a blun- 
der. 



Again: there is another door through which ideas, being uttered, 
have yet to pass, before they arrive at their journey's end, and be- 
come fairly lodged in the mind of the Judge; and that may be called 
the Hermeneutical door. In the lancruaiie of the old divines, it is 
*'the door of Entrance'.' Of this the understanding of the Judge, 
that is, the man to whom testimony is delivered, keeps the key. 
And if there bean exact conformity between the ideas uttered by 
the witness and those received by the Judge, truth is preserved. 
This kind of truth we may call HermeneuticaL Its opposite is a 
mistake, a misapprehension, a misunderstanding. 

Once more, there may be a conformity between the ideas which, 
a witness intends to convey and the ideas actually in his mind. — 
This is called mo?'(2/ truth. Its opposite is a/ie. Its essence lies 
in the intention to deceive. 

Now, it is about this species of truth that we are now to speak. 
Veracity i« the disposition which prompts a man to speak the truth 
in this sense of the word. 

The instrument employed in making' the -communication is of no. 
account in the matter. Whether the lie be propagated by the 
tongue, by the Press, by actions, or by whatever oth-er means a 
man may employ, it is all the same; only that, as mothercases, the 
criminality must be estimated according to the extent and duration, 
of the evil aimed at, and the coolness and deliberateness with which 
it is perpetrated and the pertinacity and perseverance with which 
it is followed up. Lies, for these reasons, which are published 
through the press show a much greater decree of wickedness than 
such as are whispered by the tongue. How far the obligation of 
veracity extends has been made a question among casuists. 

It is conceded by all, I believe, that it is right to employ strata- 
gems in war for the purpose of deceiving an enemy. Yet it has 
never been sufficiently considered that war in itself is not only the 
greatest of earthly calamities, but also, unless it be strictly defensive 
the greatest of crimes; and consequently that the practice of de- 
ceiving, which it involves, is not for that rea5o?i justifiable. 

The doctrine of Paley, who founds virtue on utility, let me re- 
mind you, has been examined and rejected, in the course of study 
which you have completed in this Institution. It is false in itself, 
and of evil tendency. And this other doctrine, which allows one 
to tell a lie whenever the good to be expected from it will overbal- 
ance the evil resulting from the practice in general, is, as you have 
been taught, based on the same foundation with the general doc- 
trine of utility, and falls to the ground with it. It is open, more- 
over, to this ohjectior,, that it would, if adopted in practice, result 



r 

111 tnis, that every man would violate moral truth whenever he 
conceived it for his interest so to do. 

Pious Frauds, once not only practiced, but justified in the 
schools, find no advocates in the present day. 

A madman we may deceive, as we may deceive a mad animal: 
but this is no exception to the law of veracity, which contemplates 
rational beings only. 

An equivocation is, or is not, a lie, according to the intention of 
him whousesit. To say that which is true in one sense, but false 
in that sense in which we know, from its connexion with circum- 
stances, it will be understood, is to palter with the conscience in a 
double sense: and conscience, let us remember, like the Lord of the 
conscience, cannot be deceived, and will not be mocked with im- 
punity. 

Expressions of civility, and such forms of speech as polite usage 
requires, ought to be used in all sincerity. They are current at 
their value. The sycophant and the flatterer try to increase their 
worth, by arts of their own. But they are lying arts: and, for the 
most part, as vain as they are detestable. 

A he may be told by concealing a very small portion of the truth. 
J^ay, more: the whole truth, as addressed to the ear, may be spok- 
en to the ear again; and yet the one who reports it may be guil- 
ty of lying: for a thousand things belonging to the scene, and by 
which the words, as originally spoken, may have been modified, may 
be omitted and then the thing reported will not be true. The 
v/ords "Destroy this temple and I will rear it again in three days," 
had been really spoken; but as they were reported by the false wit- 
ness before that tribunal at which The Just One was condemned, 
they were false; for they were reported without the explanatory 
gesture, with which they must have been accompanied as they were 
originally uttered. 

But it IS unnecessary to detain you longer on this part of the 
subject. A mind which is truly upright and free from guile will 
readily detect and instinctively detest those sinister arts which in- 
volve in them any thing like fraud or deceit. 1 mean when pre- 
sented in the way of temptation: for such a mind is peculiarly liable 
to be imposed upon and duped by such arts when practiced by oth- 
ers. It is as natural for innocence to trust; as for knavery to be 
suspicious. 

The vice of mendacity, like all other vices, comes on by degrees, 
beginning with cases which admit of such defence as, to the consci- 
ence of the unpractised transgressor, may seem plausible: and thus 
the mind slides into the vicious habit by insensible degrees, impos- 



B 

ing upon itself, at every Step which it takes in its downward course, 
fallacies which seem still more and more satisfactory. For the 
path which declines from the way of truth becomes not only more 
precipitous as it proceeds; it also becomes darker, leading such as 
walk along it deeper and deeper into those shades of death which at 
length enclose them on every side, shutting them out completely 
from the pure light of heaven. 

It will be useful, then, to have in view those cases of departure 
from the strict laws of veracity which are usually considered the 
most excusable, and with which the practice of violating the truth 
commonly begins. I will mention some of them. 

The case of things said in confidence is considered by some as 
requiring in the person to whom they have been committed a flat 
denial, when thev are interrogated on the matter. In this case, 
says John Randolph, in his "Letters," it is right to violate the truth 
for the sake of the truth. But this is a solecism in morals — Where 
is the necessity? Cannot the person refuse to be interrogated/ 
Or — which is often the wisest course — can he not, in the first in- 
stance, refuse to be made the depository of the secret? I do notsay, 
that success in a laudable enterprise may not require, thatmeasures 
taken to promote it should be concealed from such as have an in- 
terest in defeating it, and therefore from the community in general. 
When such cases do occur, let the secret be kept inviolate. But, 
except in times of commotion, they seldom occur. 

My advice to you, on this subject, is, to be very cautious how 
you entangle yourselves in alliances of any kind, and especially to 
be careful in entering into secret combinations for any purpose. 
Good purposes can, for the most part, be pursued by open means: 
and those who pursue bad ones are not to be trusted or received as 
friends. In respect to such let this be your motto: "O my soul, 
come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be 
not thou united." 

Another case, of the class which I am now mentioning, is that in 
which truth may be violated by mere silence. There are persons, 
who from motives of prudence — which, in that wrong sense of it 
in which it is often understood, is, in truth, what it has been called 
♦'a rascally virtue," — will withold the truth when it is their duty to 
nnakeit known. They do not like trouble; they are afraid of dis- 
pleasing people. Where a cause is pending in a court of justice, 
he who witholds testimony which may be necessary for the vindi- 
cation of the innocent or for maintaining the just cause, acts the 
part of a traitor to both truth and righteousness. Yet, the criminali- 
ty in this case, sits lightly on the consciences of people, because they 



have done nothing. To do nothing is often as heinous offence a- 
gainstGod and man as to do what is positively and even violently 
wrong, wicked and unjust. 

But if the cause be brought before the bar of public opinion, the 
point of duty may not be so clear. Many things are to be consider- 
ed. The public may not be the proper tribunal. It may not be 
competent. It may care not. The answer may be concealed, — 
the accusation indefinite. The burden of proof may be thrown on 
the accused by requiring him to prove a negative. In such cases 
let contempt shew itself by silence. Let the Public give itself no 
trouble. Let it be understood that he who before the public makes 
charges against another, such as I have described, while he shrinks 
from responsibility byconceaUng himself, does, by the very act, say 
that he himseX^ knows them to be false. Rest assured, young Gen- 
tlemen, that this is the light in which, as yet, such things are regard- 
ed in this our beloved country: and so will they continue to be re- 
garded by the people, as long as they deserve to be free. And they 
will remain free not much longer than they deserve to be free. 

I cannot but think that, in those political contests which in free 
countries must always be going on, the temptations to violate the 
truth, at least in a negative way, are so great and urgent, that there 
is no possibility to escape them, but by keeping one's self constantly 
well informed as to the true state of public atiairs and the character 
of the men who aspire to serve the Public, and of the measures they 
profess to adopt. 

But this is a large subject. A hint at it in passing is all that we 
can afford. What I would have you guard against is the maxim, 
that "All is fair in politics." A lie is fair no where; — fitting, no 
where, but in the mouth of the Father of lies. Pity and shame, is 
it, that ^is language should be, with any of the human family, — 
vernacular ! — oracular ! 

There is yet another case, that I am constrained to mention, in 
which a proper regard for truth forbids a man to be silent. I could 
fjtate the case directly, and in few words: but I wish to state it in 
such manner that the evidence of the truth of the statement may 
go along with the statement. Truth is infinite. I speak of physi- 
cal truth and in that large sense in which I have used the term 
physical on this occasion. Truth is infinite. It is that about which 
all science is conversant. The love of it is Philosophy. It is infi- 
nite, and therefore we love it. It is infinite, and therefore we seek 
after it more and more; since that portion of it which is known to 
us is nothing at all compared with what we know not. To extend 
the boundaries of human knowledge by the discovery of new truths, 



-§« a great and glorious enterprise. It has kindled the fire of a nob- 
ble enthusiasm in all highly gifted minds, in all ages of the world. — 
But it is also an enterprize in which the dullest are employed. — 
'They are forced upon it. The very infant is forced upon it. His 
safety and comfort depend upon his learning new truths. Theca- 
pacit}' for it is denied to nor\e but the poor idiot. But here is a dis- 
tinction: those truths on which the safety of the individual depends 
srelaid open to all, and all have the capacity to find them; where- 
as those truths on which the well-being and improvement of com- 
munities and of the whole race depend are, for the most part, re- 
condite, and not to be found out but on diligent research and in- 
vestigation by minds of a superior order: and, we believe, there are 
truths, which, though not discoverable in themselves. Our Father 
in heaven has been pleased to reveal to us in a supernatural way. 

Now, what is a man to do, as alover of truth, in regard to these 
several classes of verities, supposing he believes them? Is he bound 
to profess them? or may he conceal them in silence? With regard 
to those of the two first classes, there never has been any doubt. 
With regard to the second it is considered a duty which we owe to 
our country and mankind to profess them and act up to them; so 
that if, for instance, Ave believe in the truths of democracy, we are 
bound to profess them, avow, and, if need be, fight for them. But 
what is one to do with regard to those of the third class? By the 
same rule of sincerity he must undoubtedly profess them. Asa 
man of truth he cannot do otherwise. Thus, if a man believes in 
One God, he must worship God according to his belief: and if he al- 
so believes in a Mediator he must worship God through a Mediator. 
But if he does not believe? Then let him profess his non-belief. — ■ 
But if, in either of the cases, there be not a reasonable conformity 
between the belief, or the non-belief, and the profession, then to ex- 
press the thing in plain English, the man lies. The profession is a 
lie; the life is a lie. There are -lies remorselessly told in this way, 
to what extent and in what numbers, it were hard to say. Thou 
believest there is one God. Why then dost thou lie about it, by 
never worshipping him, and thus practically denying his existence? 

I would here further remark, that, as the Protestant world is con- 
i-'eniently cut up into sections, a regard to truth requires of a man 
that he attach himself to that section whose profession approach- 
es in all respects nearest to his own belief. By remaining in a bo- 
dy whose tenets do not accord with his mature and deliberate con- 
victions of truth he acts a mendacious part; and the lie, thus acted 
i)n, the more closely it is covered in his bosom, the more deeply and 



il 

sureTy will Its corrupting influence strike in upon the vital parts of 
bis character, till the whole is infected. 

In affairs of trade the modes of deception and imposition are said 
to be so prevalent, that it has become a matter of common com- 
plaint, that the fair dealer cannot hold his own with the multitude 
of his less scrupulous competitors. 

In the business of education, where above all others there should 
be nothing but truth, there is often the greatest deception. 

Certificates, recommendations, and even diplomas, it is common- 
ly said, are less to be depended on than formerly. 

Time would fail were I to go on to enumerate the various ways 
which men take to deceive one another and the public. You hav& 
to learn and know what they are fhat you may know how to de- 
fend yourselves against them: especially, you have to learn them 
that you may avoid them in practice. He who would go by a way 
which heretofore he has never travelled, does well to note before- 
hand on a chart the devious paths which he is in danger of mistak- 
ing for the right one; and especially if the right one be less beatea' 
and frequented than the others. 

Not that I would have you to look for deceit under every good 
appearance. Far otherwise. The world has in it true men, many 
of them. Were it not so, who could endure to reside in it? Yetv 
of these many good men and true, who are in the world, you might 
spend a lifetime in the search, and yet not find one. To find a true 
man, he must be true who makes the search. 

But, be the amount of truth that there is in the world what it 
may, let it be the care and study of each one of you, not to dimin- 
ish but to increase it. 

I would, therefore, sum up what I have to say on this part of the 
subject in this general caution, to avoid a loose and unguarded man- 
ner of speech on all subjects, and especial!}' ori matters touching 
the conduct and character of others. There are many, some of 
whom it might be uncharitable to denominate downright liars, wha 
nevertheless allow their tongues to run on at a round rate whenev- 
er their passions are in the least excited, which with such people is 
pretty generally the case; for if no other occasion of excitement be 
present, they can always create one, if in noother way, by the echo 
of their own voices. Such people say whatever comes uppermost^ 
rashly, harshly, and without the slightest grounds often for their ill- 
natured remarks. They seem even to take a pride in it, thinkings 
perhaps, that it shews a manly and independent spirit to think as 
they please, and to speak out boldly whatever they think. Such, 
^ey say, is their opinion, and they care not all the world knows \iL. 



n 

Or, to give them due credit, they have no opinions. They are too 
acute and quick sighted for that. Probabilities, in their scale of ev- 
idence, there are none. All is intuition, or, at the very least, de- 
monstration. The difficult process of searching after truth, by sift- 
ing and weighing evidence, they leave for dull, plodding, skeptical, 
people. As for ihem, and such geniuses as they, who are blessed 
with the gift of seeing things at a glance, such process is unneces- 
sary. Indeed, they feel themselves above it. It is superfluous on 
another account, since it is their right to assert for truth whatever 
they do not certainly know to be false. 

Besides all this, such persons, however rude in other respects, 
have their minds so trained and disciplined, that their faculties of 
belief are brought under complete subjection to their powers of will; 
so that it is really no figure of speech to say that they believe what 
they please. And, as they say what they believe, they must' not 
forsooth be condemned as liars, whateveruntruths they may choose 
to utter, seeing they have in the first place chosen to believe them: 
so that, should they assert that the sun does not shine at noon-day, 
we must in charity think that they speak the truth; though we might 
claim the liberty to doubt the fact. These are the pests of society. 

Horace has finely satirized the character of such in his Epistle to 
Lollius, where he describes the 

"Arperitas agrestis et inconcinna gravis que, 
"Quae, se commendat lonsa cute, dentibus atris; 
"Dum vult libertas dici mera, veraque virtus — 

a disposition which, he goes on to say, 

"rixatur de lana saepe caprina, 

"Propugnat nugis armatus: "Sciliect ut non 

"Sit mihi prima fides, et, vere quod placet ut non 

"Acriter elatrem, pretium aetas altera sordet." 
In concluding this part of my discourse, I would exhort you to pro- 
ceed, in all your thoughts, words and deeds, upon a maxim which 
is the very opposite to that adopted by those licentious talkers, 
whom I have just now described, and to state nothing for true 
which you do not know to be true, true in an exact correspondence 
between the views which you actually entertain and those which 
you mean to express. And remember, that sweeping and po.^iiive 
assertions, except in the abstract sciences, are rarely, if ever, entire- 
ly true. Universal truths there are but few. There, arefcw rules 
without their exceptions; few good characters without a blemish; 
few bad ones without a virtue; hardly any virtuous action without 
'^•^e defect: and rarely a crime which i.^- in '>" 't<j parts, criminal. 



13 

The sun itself has its spots. There is none good but One that i« 
God. 

If there is a maxim which is universally applicable, and never ia 
any case to be violated, it is the one I am now endeavoring to ex- 
plain. The way in which it is most commonly violated, is by deal- 
ing in rash and unquahfied assertions. 

The most aggra-valed species which belongs to the genus of wil* 
ful falsehood, is that which proceeds from malice in itie liar> and is 
denominated slander. 

The most atrocious degree of slander, is, where theslandererlays 
to the charge of another, whom he knows to be innocent, that Very 
thing of which he himself is guilty. 

And, to cap this climax of baseness and depravity, this further 
circumstance mnst be added, that the slanderer vent-; his slanders in 
so covert away as to escape responsibility, and in terms so indefi- 
nite as not to admit of refutation. 

These however are topics, which cannot now be discussed. 

What remains is to offer some things to your consideration, 
which may serve to fix in your minds a sentiment of deep detesta- 
tion against the evil to which veracity is opposed. 

And, in the first place, I will remark that among men veracity is 
made a point of honor. So that a man who loses his character for 
veracity, can expect to hold, no longer, a place among that class of 
people, who treat each other with mutual respect and confidence. 
With persons of any refinement and sensibility this species of excom- 
munication must be most horrible to the feelings; as it is disastrous 
also in its consequences. But, what I would have you particular- 
ly to notice, is the effect which this very consideration itself must 
have upon the mind of the individual, who is conscious to himself 
of having violated his duty in that particular which is made the 
point of honor. A man will be carefw^ on this point. The vital 
energies of his character are there collected. It is the citadel. If 
that be stormed, all is lost. If a traitor from within open its door, 
disgrace and ruin enter. I say ruin. For I am not speaking of 
reputation, which a lying tongue may takeaway: but of charac- 
ter, a thing which no tongue but the man's own tongue can injure. 
The citadel must^ I say, be opened from within: otherwise it is im- 
pregnable. A man knows this. His conscience tells him this: and, 
whatever force of character he has, it will be summoned for th© 
defence of this point. Surrender this and see the desolation! Coa- 
science is defiled: the heart is sunk and overwhelmed under a sens© 
of its own baseness; moral strength lies prostrate: hope has ^ed.- — 
wtorsa still, the fortxess has-cb^'^srsdmAsJlers, and, the black banrier 



u 

of the Prince of darkness waves in triumph over its battlements.. 

It is hardly possible for a liar to pass long undetected; and 
when detected his reputation too is gone — gone irretrievably. For, 
however lenient the world may be to offenders against other laws, 
it shews no mercy to offenders against this law of its own enacting, 
by which veracity is made among men a point of honor; and it 
opens no way by which even the repentant may return to occupy 
the once forfeited position. So that, except in a community of liars, 
such as Crete, a liar cannot hope to meet vvrith favor or respect. 
This makes the renovation of his character still the more difficult. 
Indeed, the path of repentance, like the way upward from the in- 
fernal regions as described by Virgil, in a passage which has be- 
come too trite to need quoting now, is, in all cases, hard to travel: 
in this case it is next to impossible. The confirmed liar is, of all 
reprobates, the most irreclaimable. People have confessed other 
sins of which they have been guilty, but who ever heard of the 
case of a man standing up in the face of the world and saying "I 
have lied!" And yet a man must do this, who has lied to the world, 
before either God or the world will pardon him. Think, think, 
while yet innocent in this matter, how much it concerns you to re- 
main so. 

In the next place, I would remark that it should be an induce- 
ment to you to cherish and cultivate veracity, that the possession of 
this virtue will enable you to discern it in others, and to make them 
your friends. It may not enable you, it is true, to perceive, in all 
cases, where it is wanting: for, as Satan has the power of trans- 
forming himself into an angel of light, so has mendacity the art of 
passing for a while undetected under the guise of truth: so that, 
though veracious yourselves, you may notwithstanding be so im- 
posed upon as to believe that truth exists in the character where 
it is not. But, possessing it yourselves, you will always be able to 
discern it, where it is. And this is a very desirable talent, and one 
which none of the sons of falsehood ever can possess. Place them 
where they will be in the midst of honest and true men, conversant 
with them every day; and yet they will never know it. The light 
still shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not. 
The liar, supposing the true man to be like himself, will not under- 
stand him, but will adjust himself not to what he actually sees in 
the conduct and professions of the other, but to something which he 
takes for granted is concealed under appearances; and so he will be 
out in his calculations. And then, acting on a false supposition, he 
will compel the true man to make a movement which was foreign 
from his original intentions: and then the false man will find him- 



self in the position of one that is outwitted and over reached — out- 
witted and overreached he has been indeed; but it has been bv him- 
self. His cunning has woven a net in which he himself has been 
caught: the hanter has been devoured by his own dogs: that which 
is written has been verified, "he that diorDreth a nit shall fall into it." 
Men rejoice when they see it — and he, the man of falshcod, who 
believed not in appearances, laments that he has fallen upon evil 
times, in which honest and true men are not to be found. So Jan- 
nes and Jambres, who withstood the legate of the true God, thought 
him only a more powerful magician than themselves, — till it came 
to the last experiment, when they were forced to acknowledge the 
truth. And here also the analogy holds. There is a last experi- 
ment: — a trial which will convince the liars. — But that is in the 
future. — May we all, by a life of truth, be prepared for that last 
trial! 

At the close of the war of our revolution, Dr. Franklin took the 
lead in conducting those diplomatic negotiations, which ended in 
the acknowledgement of ourlndependence by the nations of Europe. 
His artless, straight-forward way of doing things puzzled and dis- 
concerted the intriguers more than the most crooked and disin^en- 
uous and crafty management could have done. They had not been 
used to it: they did not look for it; and so, when it met them, they 
knew not what to make of it. And so it is in the common aftairs of 
life; a man who will speak the truth and act in good faith, making 
no false professions, will puzzle the liars and find such as are true 
men, that is if such there be. And such there are, almost every 
where. Diogenes, it is said, lit a candle at noon and walked with it 
up and down in the streets of Athens, saying that he was looking if 
he could find any where an honest man. Diogenes was a fool. He 
had seen better without the candle. It served only to blind him: 
and though true and honest men were as rare among us as they 
were in Athens in the days of this cynic — and indeed the Athenians 
and almost all the Greeks were remarkably addicted to lying — yet a 
man might find them, provided he would throw away all dishonest 
artificial lights of his own kindling, and content himself to use his 
eyes in Heaven's pure light of truth and walk by that. Now there 
is nothing which a true man so much loves as truth. No tie binds 
men so strongly together as the discernment of truth in one another. 
This, then, is a good reason why you should cherish it, cultivate it, 
and live according to its dictates, that you may be able to find such 
men and enjoy their confidence. As for such as want this virtue, 
have as little to do with them as possible; and if they revile you, 
count it an honor. 



Further still: while a lie persisted ia wiij inevitably, in the long 
run, lead into a labyrinth of difficulties from which there is noes- 
caps; truth, as it is always consistent with itselfand with the course 
of Providence, will always conduct to happy issues. This faith 
may have appearancps against it for a time. Therefore it is, that 
wesay, it will be as we liave stated, ^Hn the long runy False- 
hood rises early, and sets out with speed, and it often has a long 
run, indeed, before Divine Providence, which is slow but sure in its 
march, overtakes it with retribution. But the time will come, 
when it shall be overtaken; and in the meantime, the man of truth 
may rest in the faith that it shall be so, and in the enjoyment of, 
what is of vastly more account as it respects present happiness than 
all that was evergained by successful lying-a calm and tranquil mind, 
selfrespect, and the pleasure of an approving conscience. These are 
the best possessions. Learn to value them svorthily, and then, you 
will assiduously cultivate the virtue which produces them. 

In the last place, I remark that the high grade of importance in 
which this virtue of which I am speaking is placed in the Sacred 
Scripture:', shews what we ought to think of it, how Jiighly prize 
and ardently cherish it; and with what holy fear and intense ab- 
horrence wtj should watch to shun the slightest deviation from that 
good and right way which it prescribes. Most earnestly do I in- 
treat you to make the Holy Bible your vade-mecum, your con- 
stant companion, the man of your council the guide of your way. 
Study its holy precepts in the light of its sublime doctrines, and 
you will see that veracity is indispensable to your acceptance be- 
fore the God of truth, whose word has declared that "all liars shall 
have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." 

To what 1 have said on the nature and importance of veracity I 
shall subjoin a few remarks on the difficulty of maintaining it in 
practice; and so conclude. This I think necessary by way of 
caution, lest, thinkiuij it an easy thino:, you should actuallv fail in 
some of those severe trials which certainly await you in futurity, 
should life be prolonged, and especially should it be your lot to oc- 
cupy any conspicuous and highly responsible station in society. 

It is, indeed, natural and easy to speak the truth, there being 
no propensity in man's nature to falsify, as there is to do other 
things which are wrong. Lying is not a root, but a branch of the 
tree of corruption. It springs from other vices. Whoever com- 
mits it has either done some evil thing, which, to avoid the shame 
of having done it, he denies; or he is bent upon accomplishing some 
object, which he tliinks, can not be accomplished without lying; or 
he isactuated by some malignant passion such as envy which prompts 



IT 

him to utter slander with the view to hurt the reputation of the 
person whom he hares; or possibly, if, under the influence of these 
evil dispositions, he has already formed the habit of speaking falsely, 
he may go on to do so from the mere force of habit, or he may lie, 
in imitation of others, as the giddy and unthinking part of the com- 
munity do, who when one or two of the pack open, are ready with 
their voices to swell the howling concert; or he may lie, as trav- 
ellers in foreign countries are said to do, who tell wonderful tales 
of what they have not seen there, in order to afford entertamment 
to their hearers or readers; or he may lie, and print his lies in a 
book, for the purpose of making money by the sale of it; or he may 
lie out of vanity, to make people think him greater, richer or wiser 
than he is; or, finally, he may lie, to avoid the inconvenience of suf- 
fering what must be suffered by those who witness or bear testimo- 
ny, in the cause of truth. Now, if a man be under the influence 
of a disposition to be governed by these motives, of disingenuous- 
ness, ambition, avarice, envy, jealousy malice, levity, caprice, 
evil-sympathy, a love of the marvellous, or vanity, or any other 
such motives as are incompatible with perfect integrity of charac- 
ter and purity of heart; he is in fact false and unsound, and, on 
occasion, that is, if an adequate temptation be presented, he will 
turn out, actually, a liar. And if this be so, there is no dependence 
to be placed in the veracity of one whose mind is not exercised 
and trained in all moral virtue "An undisciplined mind has," it has 
been said, "no moral principles." It is the truth: and we may say 
with equal truth that veracity, like the dome of some great temple, 
rests upon the entire fabric of the virtues while it surmounts, com- 
pletes, and adorns them all. It is never found alone. It cannot ex- 
ist alone. It cannot be learned alone. That which is taught thus 
in the school of honor is a base counterfeit. 

I was once asked by a young man if I could admit him into this 
seat of learning for two weeks: — it was all the time he could spare; 
and in that time he thought he could learn what he wanted — Eng- 
lish Garmmar. **But we cannot teach English Grammar in so 
short a time." — "Others do it" — "No Sir, others promise to do it: 
but it cannot be done." — "Why not, it is not so long." — "But we 
cannot teach it to any advantage without teaching other things 
along with it; such as something of Logic, something of Metaphys- 
ics, something of the nature of language itself. — "That is strange! 
Can't you teach English Grammar by itself?"-" You are a farmer?"- 
**Yes." — How long does it take you to fatten a beef?"--"Something 
like eight weeks."— "But I want only a quarter of beef; — can't you 
fatten for me a single quarter, in the fourth of that time, which will 



18 

be two weeks?" (Shaking his head) ''No, Sir: No, Sir! If I fat- 
ten one quarter the other three quarters must get fat as fast." — 
*' Welh now you see wh}^ I cannot undertake to teach you English 
Grammar in two weeks. It is only one quarter of the beef, and as 
the other quarters must go along with it, you must allow us four 
times two weeks. 

There is, as Cicero has well said, a common bond, which unites 
together all the virtues. They receive and yield to each other mu- 
tual strength and firmness, like the stones in an arch. Veracity is 
the key stone. Or, to vary the figure, it is like that clear, beautiful glow 
of the countenance, which is at once the sign and product of a sound 
and healthy state of the whole bodily system; and which, when the 
health is gone, goes with it, and cannot be brought back, though it 
may be imperfectly imitated by the "cosmetic powers" and the arts 
of the toilet. 

Consider the case of those primitive witnesses for the truth of 
Christianity, who could not hold fast their veracity, but by the 
surrender of their lives. The cruel sufiferings to which they sub- 
mitted might have been escaped, had they been willing to perform 
nn act so trivial in itself as the casting of a pinch of frankicense on 
a heathen alta?. To do so would have been to act a lie; and, 
therefore, these holy men chose death under the most excruciating 
tortures, rather than do it. True, there is no danger of martyr- 
dom now:but are there no sufferings to be endured among us by such 
as are tenacious of the truth? Are there no advantages any lon- 
ger to be gained, or evils to be shunned, by a man's professing 
what he does not believe? Is it reasonable to think, that among 
the different creeds, political and religious, which are professed in un- 
the world at this day, there is not one, which coritains a portion of 
truth, which, when a man has once discovered^ though he may have 
been brought up in the belief of it, it would he disingenuous in him 
and an offecne against veracity, not to discard, and on account of it, 
the eniire creed which contains it? But should he discard it, would 
not the sect, or party, which is founded and organized upon it, dis- 
card Azwi? Aye; and would not the biggotted among them be apt, 
moreover, to denounce and vilify him as a renegade, an apostate a trai- 
tor? And is such treatment a light matter, and easy to be borne^^ 
Yetwho ever loves truth better than a party-and every man of ve- 
racity does this-must lay his accounts to meet with such treatment. 
For party i:*; a great tyrant, and allows no reserved rights. But 
with every man of veracity the rights of truth are I'eserved rights 
and, when any mandate, emanate from v;hat quarter it may, or 
come arrayed in what terrors it may athwart the domain of these 



19 

his reserved rights, he becomes^ as that, a nullifier, and, staking hh 
all upon the issue, pronounces,. Veto. Now it is very clear, that, of- 
ten, it may not be either pleasantor profitable for one to do this thing. 
So that, if a man would follow truth he mu t be ready io forsake 
all, that he may follow it. He must stand prepared to turn 
his back upon all wo-rldly advantages, and to regard poverty, the loss 
of reputation and popular favor, the frowns of the powerful, and 
the scorn o-f such as worship Fortune, as to be chosen rathei than 
te turn aside from following it. Self denialis at the foundation of 
all moral discipline. 

Young Gentlemen: I have now set before you the nature and 
importance of veracity; the necessity, in order to be perfect in it,, 
of purifying the mind from every evil passion and every wrong de- 
sire. Let it be your earnest study in future Hfe to cultivate this 
excellent virtue. 

Keep a guard over your hearts. Keep a guard over your minds^ 
Remember that evil in the one will becloud the other. '*Mala 
mens: malus animus" says the proverb; and 1 may add; malus- 
animus: mala lingua. 

Admit no thought without charity. Farm no opinioa without 
evidence. 

Bridle your tongues: utter nothing rashly^ 

If you should fall into error, retract it. If you commit a fault,, 
confess it. If you do a wrong, repair it. 

Fulfil your engagements; but take care not to commit yourselves- 
to any cause that is not good, or that is even doubtful. 

Be careful, in reportinor what you hear, to omit nothing which 
may be necessary to a fair understanding of it. 

Be candid, in controversy, in dealings in rivalships; admitting the 
truth, though it makes against you. 

Above all, be true to all who have special claims on your re- 
gard: first, to your God; next to parents and other benefactors; and 
then, to your country. 

Be true to yourselves; and deserve your own good opinion of 
yourselves; but in that make large allowances; for the judge is par- 
tial. 

In a word, let all your course be guided by truth. — And so may 
the God of truth have you always in His most holy and gracious 
keepiing, and bring you te» everlasting life, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord! Amen! 



mh t , 



^om. 



